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The countdown clock on the parlor.fm website underscores the anticipation felt by many ahead of the voice-based social network's long-awaited debut, now set for launch at TechCrunch Disrupt (May 23rd-25th) at Pier 94 in New York City. After a successful stint in beta testing, the time has finally come for the vast public to see what all the buzz is about.

On tap for Monday will be a formal showcase of Parlor’s groundbreaking mobile platform and new, streamlined design, which will be available at no charge via Android and, of course, the iPhone. The makers, however, say that native apps for BlackBerry and Windows Mobile devices are also on the horizon.

So what exactly is Parlor.fm all about? According to company chief Joel Schwartz, Parlor is "a unique, voice-based social network featuring an array of interconnected mini-apps to suit a variety of business and social purposes. We’re integrating the quality and intimacy of voice communication with the high-speed connectivity of the digital world. In short, we're trying to put the voice back into social and business networking.”

Although the casual social elements of the platform are notable and sufficient to make Parlor.fm a success in and of itself, the potential for practical use in business and corporate settings is particularly of interest to many. Parlor’s Conference application, for example, delivers free group calling for up to 20 users at a time - yes, 20! It's also a snap to use. No dial-in dilemmas or extraneous passcodes that get lost, transposed, or incorrectly entered. A Parlor user, the company says, can simply select a group of callers to invite, and each will receive a simple, "PIN-less" access number for the call.

From something as simple as linking folks with common interests in chat rooms to a more serious application such as making a company's quarterly earnings call more seamless, Parlor.fm is definitely worth checking out for no shortage of reasons. So if you're interested and want to reserve your Parlor username (or sign up for the Parlor email list), click here.